If your family makes around $60,000 a year and you work for a living, there’s a good chance you pay a larger percentage of your income in federal taxes than Mitt Romney and the other partners at Bain Capital. We have explained before that a good portion of millionaires who live off investments pay a lower effective tax rate than people who work for their $60,000 a year. Worse, the “carried interest” loophole allows people like Romney to enjoy the special low tax rate for investment income even though their income is really from work. CTJ’s Bob McIntyre was the first to predict that Mitt Romney’s effective federal rate was under 15 percent as a result. Now comes Newark’s Democratic mayor, Cory Booker, defending Bain ... Continue reading →
Although scenes of political "gotchas" between Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and his shadow counterpart Malcolm Turnbull have been in the forefront, there's been a lot of action around the taxation of Google and other IT companies . The issue became inflamed when Google published its annual results to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), which showed that it had clocked a loss for its Australian business for the year (up to 31 December 2011), and had payed a total of $74,176 in tax. It had also made a loss the year before, although its tax bill was higher, at around $1.1 million. Last year, too, there were questions about the fairness of Google paying so little tax when some have estimated that its Australian ... Continue reading →
U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey Yes, the Facebook IPO was noteworthy. But just as noteworthy was the decision by Eduardo Saverin to renounce his U.S. citizenship on the eve of the historic IPO and become a permanent resident of Singapore, where there is no capital gains tax. He is already a citizen of Brazil but they don’t tax non-resident income like the United States. With Pavlovian predictability, this action triggered the anti-monetary freedom Senator Chuck Schumer to proclaim that “Saverin has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him, and helped him become a billionaire.” Remember, it was Schumer last year that decried the ability of free people to transact in a medium of exchange of ... Continue reading →
The offices of Google Ireland Image: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland THE GREEN PARTY has urged the Government to alter Ireland’s corporate tax regime to close a loophole which it said allows companies to avoid paying the full rate. The move would give Taoiseach Enda Kenny a strong negotiating position when he travels to Brussels this evening to lobby for economic stimulus measures at an informal summit of EU leaders, the Green Party said. Party leader Eamon Ryan called on the Government to end the so-called ‘Double Irish’ tax avoidance strategy, which he said is used by multinational corporations to pay far less than the official 12.5 per cent rate. The Taoiseach will have a better negotiating hand at the European Council meeting if he shows he ... Continue reading →
Sahil Kapur May 22, 2012, 6:00 AM Sensing a political opportunity, Democrats are working to back Republicans into a corner on legislation designed to punish Americans who renounce their citizenship to avoid paying taxes, as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin did. The legislation, unveiled last Thursday by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Casey (D-PA), provoked over-the-top conservative pushback, with Grover Norquist and the Wall Street Journal editorial board comparing it to the actions of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), conscious of not being portrayed as defending jet-setting elites who seek to avoid their legal obligations, said Sunday that Saverin’s actions were “outrageous.” He told ABC’s “This Week” he may support the Schumer-Casey bill, but hedged that he wasn’t sure ... Continue reading →
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) on Monday urged the House to vote on a proposal to penalize citizens who give up their U.S. passport for tax purposes, not long after Speaker John Boehner sounded open to the idea.Casey, in a letter to Boehner (R-Ohio), said the bill he introduced last week with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would strengthen current law to ensure that Americans who renounce their citizenship to lower their tax bill are held accountable. The two Democrats introduced the measure after Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook, dropped his citizenship last year, months before the social media company went public. Saverin’s decision is estimated to have saved him tens of millions of dollars in taxes – though the Brazilian-born entrepreneur, who now lives in ... Continue reading →
Sahil Kapur May 21, 2012, 9:10 AM New Democratic-led legislation aimed at penalizing those who would renounce their U.S. citizenship to dodge taxes has provoked fiery criticism from influential conservatives and is putting Republican leaders in a politically precarious situation. Inspired by the actions of Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who renounced his citizenship ahead of a large tax payment associated with the company’s much-ballyhooed initial public offering, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Casey (D-PA) unveiled a bill Thursday to force such tax-dodgers to pay a 30 percent tax rate on all future U.S. investments and ban them from ever setting foot in the country again. Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist compared it to the actions of Nazi Germany. “I think Schumer can probably find ... Continue reading →
Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Common Sense Media Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook attends the 7th Annual Common Sense Media Awards honoring Bill Clinton at Gotham Hall on April 28, 2011 in New York City. In September of 2011, Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook, renounced his United States citizenship and eight months later, Facebook, Inc. held its initial public offering. The Brazilian-born entrepreneur says he renounced his citizenship to help facilitate a permanent move to Singapore, where he has been living since 2009, but senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) think Saverin’s primary motivation was to avoid paying taxes on his stake in Facebook post-IPO. A news release from Senator Schumer’s office called Saverin’s actions an “avoidance scheme.” Now the senators ... Continue reading →
